


Argument

by Sleepy_fan



Series: Justice Lords AU [2]
Category: DCU
Genre: Gen, Justice Lords AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 08:58:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13854417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepy_fan/pseuds/Sleepy_fan
Summary: Kon whisks his younger brother away from an argument between Jon Lane and Chris Kent. Jon has questions about what the two of them were arguing about and Kon struggles to answer





	Argument

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is based off of this https://78.media.tumblr.com/2edc32a83af98993192e820ffd628a39/tumblr_olj2e57cqk1sc9geyo1_1280.png picture of Drenched in Sunlight's. Also cross-posted from Tumblr

Kon heard the two of them arguing as soon as he entered the compound. A frown appeared on his face and the half-Kryptonian rushed through the hallways at top speed – as one of the very few reasons why those particular pair of his brothers would be arguing was if one of them believed that the other was coveting all of their youngest brother’s attention – whether that was true or simply a jealous and inaccurate perception remained to be seen.

Chris and Laney were glaring daggers at one another, and Jon was staring at the both of them, about two or three feet away, his eyes wide and dismayed as he was very quiet. Kon came up behind his youngest brother, lightly tapping the other on one shoulder, a gentle, understanding smile flashing across his face as Jon glanced up at him, worry and confusion visible on his face. "I don't know why they're fighting... Laney just came back from his mission, and Chris and I were on the couch playing a video game. Laney picked me up and Chris protested and they've been doing this for over an hour..."

Kon sighed, shaking his head a little "They'll burn themselves out of this argument by the end of the day, or father will step in, as always. Come with me, Jonno. I've still got most of my weekly allowance left - want to go to the arcade and play games and eat the most awesomely greasy pizza in Metropolis?"

Jon was about to respond, when Laney raised his voice, rage causing his voice to shake, as he stabbed his finger into one of Chris' chest - both of them, Kon noted, were still in full uniform. "You better be treating my younger bro right!"

"I've been taking care of him longer than you. Sit down, you're being ridiculous, Laney." Chris growled, eyes flashing in irritation, trying to stare his younger sibling down.

Laney's eyes flashed with irritation, and he crossed his arms over his chest, eyes turning the slightest bit purple in the center of his pupils. "I will not sit down, just because you want to assert dominance! And just because you've known him longer than I have, doesn't mean that you know how to care for him best!"

Chris shifted, glaring down at the half Kryptonian, his eyes also flashing just a little bit red with Heat Vision. "Have you forgotten that Jon and I are soulmates, Laney? I have loved him in every form that he has been born in, since our souls were first created millenia ago on Krypton."

Laney started to splutter, and Jon looked incredibly confused. He took a half-step towards the other two, but Kon scooped up his baby brother and moved very quickly out of the compound, calling quietly for Sphere to come - and she rolled up to him, beeping quietly before transforming into Super Cycle mode. He handed one helmet to Jon, before putting his own on. "Come on, let's head off to the arcade."

"What... What does Chris mean when he said that we're soulmates? I thought... I mean, I've sort of heard of soulmates in English class, but I just thought that was a myth, or wishful fantasy?" Jon asked, tilting his head a little, a deeply confused expression appearing on his face as he tried to puzzle out just what Chris meant by that.

A soft sigh left Kon's lips and he just barely resisted the temptation to rub his face - why did his younger brothers have to say such things in front of Jon? "I... Err... That's..." He glanced away from Jon, staring at the road - even though Sphere was the one who was driving them to the closest arcade that Jon really enjoyed playing at. The place was run by family of someone connected to the Justice Lords, and they were always given a small, private room to play the games that they wanted, without being pestered by curious or enterprising civilians... Or harassed by foolish protesters. "Uhm..."

"I've heard them arguing and Chris bringing that point up before, but neither of them will explain it to me!" Jon pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to scowl...

In Kon's opinion, the pout on his baby brother's face was almost criminally adorable, but he knew that lightly teasing the other about being cute wasn't going to end well at this point - Kon could sense that the other was getting close to a fit of temper - which was never a good thing. "Well... You know that Chris, like Match, Father, and Aunt Kara, is full Kryptonian, right?"

"Yeah... and wasn't he actually born on Krypton, like dad and auntie were? He was in some sort of weird dimension-thingy for a long while, but he left, right? To talk to dad or something?" Jon responded.

Kon blinked a little in surprise - his  youngest brother knew more about Chris' origins than he was expecting - but then again, neither Laney or Chris were great at keeping secrets when arguing with one another, unfortunately. "That's... Well... I'm not sure if Father or Chris want you to know yet - they'd probably say that a full explanation should wait until you're older..."

Jon folded his arms over his chest, and a mulish expression appeared on his face, as he muttered irritably "I hate that answer... Can't you please explain Kon? Please? You're the bestest big brother, who explains things and is sooo much fun! I promise I won't tell Dad or the others that I know why, I just... I want to understand... Chris says that he's mine and that I'm his, but I think he means it different than that we're family..."

Another sigh left Kon, and after a couple of moments of quiet contemplation - with Jon's puppy-eyed pleading pout at maximum intensity, he decided to cave in a little and explain - but not because the other had blatantly tried to manipulate him into answering his question. "Chris was born on Krypton, yes. But his parents decided to put him into the Phantom Zone - which is sort of like... Krypton's prison. He was put there as a little kid, because they thought that he would be able to get more powerful by staying there, and that they had heard that Krypton might be destroyed and thought that he would be safer there..." Kon paused, gathering his thoughts as he tried to figure out how the hell he was going to explain the rest of this.

"Okay... I'm not sure how putting him into a prison would help him at all, but he did survive the destruction of Krypton... You still didn't explain the stuff about Chris and me being soulmates! It's awful that he grew up in a prison..." Jon responded, a worried and unhappy frown appearing on his face.

"I was getting to that - I was just... Trying to figure out how. So... Chris is... Chris is kind of... Half-possessed by a Kryptonian spirit god... being. Or he's the reincarnation of one of the Kryptonian gods - the Nightwing entity - the same entity whose name he goes by as Lord Nightwing in the hero community." Conner responded, trying to find the right words to explain the stranger part of all of this. "When you were born, he sensed that his mortal soulmate had been reborn, and broke out of the Phantom Zone. He met Father, and pledged his loyalty to him, mostly so that he was able to stay by your side, Jon. So that he would be able to love, cherish and care for you."

"Oh! So he's part of the family, then. And he's mine." Jon responded, a bright smile appearing on his face, leaning a little into his second oldest brother, a feeling of warmth and happiness filling him.  His older brothers were always so busy... although Chris did seem to try to take as much time out of his day as his schedule allowed to spend time with him... Not that the others did the same... Except that Kon was being distracted by one of Lord Batman's sons (not that Jon was jealous. He wasn't... He just hated sharing his brothers' attention with anyone, and resented the fact that Tim was trying to claim part of Kon's heart and seemed to be succeeding) and was spending less of the little time that they usually had together with him, in favor of spending some of it with Tim.

"Err... I think so? Aunt Kara and Chris both say that he swore an Oath of Fealty to Father when he came to earth - which is why he doesn't wear the symbol of El on his chest. He wears the symbol of Batman, as Lord Batman and Father are close allies. Chris would be able to wear the symbol of El if he married one of us... And given that you and he are soulmates, I suspect I know who he would have a preference with. But that's only if Father would allow him to marry one of us, in the first place. Chris is his Vassal, and though to a certain extent, he is to serve and protect all of us, his loyalty is first to father, and second to you... Or at least that's what I was able to understand from Aunt Kara's explanation. She explained it to me shortly after Chris showed up, and you were a baby then - of course, he was about six or seven then." Kon responded, trying to muddle through his memories. So much had happened since then, and the explanation hadn't made much sense then, and it made less sense now.

"Oh... So what's a soulmate?" Jon responded after a couple of moments, frowning a little "I've heard it as someone you love quite a lot, and that they love you back just as much... And that it was a romantic thing? Or do you mean soulmate in a different sense than that?"

Kon thought for several moments before responding quietly "The two of your souls are bound together in some way., I don't know anything more than that. Chris knows more, probably and so might father. If you have more questions, I would suggest asking one or both of them - though they might  not want to explain until you're a teenager."

Another pout appeared on Jon's face, and the other crossed his arms over his chest, as the two of them (and Sphere) arrived at the arcade. "I'm almost eleven now! Why can't these things be explained to me now? It's not fair."

The older brother shrugged his shoulders a little as he ruffled his younger brother's hair, answering quietly "I know that it's frustrating not being able to get all of the information that you want to know when you want to know it, but  I've explained to you everything I understand about it. I'm not sure if Soulmates is even the correct term, or just the closest equivalent to the Kryptonian term in English is. And don't ask me for what the Kryptonian word or phrase is, as I don't know it, unfortunately."

"Oh... Alright. Thank you for explaining what you do know. You're the best, big brother Kon!" Jon responded, still a little sulky, but brightening up after a moment and hugging him tightly around the middle, cuddling into him for a couple of moments before letting go "Let's go to the arcade! I want to see if I can beat DAG's high score on Cheese Monsters. Every week I manage to beat it, but they somehow come in later and beat my high score! It's not fair." Jon was sulking a little again, lower lip sticking out a little in a ridiculously adorable little pout.

"Maybe whoever DAG is, they're frustrated that VE or JSK keeps beating their score." Kon pointed out, smiling softly as the two of them walked into the arcade. Jon used the initials for both his human and his Kryptonian names when he logged his high scores – as occasionally he would top one of his high scores, and wanted to keep two different initials. Although Jon preferred his human name for the most part – occasionally he did go by Vera El, although that was usually when they were on a galactic stage – shadows of their father, Lord of House El, silent and close to him at all times, unless directed elsewhere, watching and listening just as closely as any of the rest of them.


End file.
